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Jewish Cultural Organizations
In the nineteenth century, many
assimilationists were active in the development of cultural
life. The
first editions of works by A. ---, J. Slowacki and Z.
Krasinski,
as well as contemporary Positivist writers, were published
in Poland
thanks to Jewish publishers. The Kronenberg family
co-founded the Warsaw
Philharmonic.
Another one of Warsaw's Jewish plutocrats, responding to
an appeal
by Polish patriots, bought the painting Battle of Grunwald
by J.
Matejko, which also helped the painter, who was in a
difficult financial
situation. There were no institutions supporting Jewish
culture,
however. The first such organization was B'nai B'rith. After
Poland
gained its independence, the Jewish Society for the
Advancement of the
Arts (Zydowskie Towarzystwo Krzewienia Sztuk Pieknych) was
founded,
whose aim was to support the arts in various ways. It helped
artists,
funded stipends for students at art schools, and organized
exhibitions.
Polish and Jewish writers' professional organizations were
established
around the same time. During the interwar period, as part of
the Warsaw
PEN club, there were also Jewish and Hebrew PEN Clubs, as
well as unions
of both Jewish and Hebrew writers. Music was very important
for the
Jewish community. Singing and music societies such as
Ha-zomir [Hebrew,
"The Nightingale"], organized primarily by supporters of
Zionism, played
a role similar to analogous Polish organizations at the turn
of the
century. Running a broad range of cultural activities, from
reading
rooms to organizing readings and concerts, they not only
promoted music
and secular culture, but also helped raise national
consciousness.
During the interwar period, Jewish schools and music courses
were
founded. There were also amateur and professional
orchestras, choirs,
and chamber groups. In most cities, there were Jewish
musical societies
that organized concerts and other events. During the 1930's,
the Jewish
Music Institute was founded.
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At that time, scholarly institutions focusing
on the study of Jewish society, history and culture were
also active. At
the initiative of academicians and teachers, the Institute
of Judaic
Studies was founded, as well as the Yidisher Visnshaftlecher
Institut.
The number of cultural institutions was an expression both
of the Jewish
nation-building process, as well as something that had been
imposed by
the state and inspired by the national camp, whose aim was
to culturally
isolate the Jewish community. Polish organizations often
refused to
help Jewish artists, and Poles did not show much interest in
Jewish
culture. There were no university courses on Jewish history
or Judaic
studies, and no research was done on Jewish society. Few
Jewish scholars
could find work in Polish institutions of higher learning.
The Second World War interrupted the activities of
Jewish cultural
organizations. Despite the unfavorable conditions, schools
continued to
function in the ghettos and secret classes were organized;
there were
also theaters, orchestras and cabarets. Writers and painters
did their
best to continue working. In the Warsaw ghetto, there was an
underground
archive, founded by E. Ringelblum, which in a limited way
also tried to
help artists. Scholars tried to pursue the work they had
been engaged
in before the war, treating it as a form of civil
disobedience against
Nazi barbarity.
The Holocaust put an end to their efforts. Poland's
rich, varied
Jewish cultural life virtually ceased to exist. Germans
killed most of
those who had created it, and their audiences, and
intentionally
destroyed all physical signs of it: historic synagogues,
cemeteries,
libraries and museum collections.
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After the war, the Central Historical
Commission, founded by the Central Committee of Jews in
Poland, tried to
save the scattered remains of this culture. Within the
Committee, there
was a Department of Culture and Propaganda, which tried to
encourage
the Jewish culture that was coming back to life. Artists who
survived
gathered in Jewish cultural associations, the Union of
Jewish Writers,
Journalists and Artists, the Association of Jewish Musicians
and
Composers in Poland, and the Union of Jewish Actors. The
Jewish Society
for the Advancement of the Arts began functioning again. In
1950, it was
disbanded and the Social and Cultural Society of the Jews in
Poland was
founded in its place, at the initiative of the communist
authorities.
In Poland, Jewish culture was used for propaganda
purposes. It
experienced a renaissance after 1956, especially among
amateur
organizations. This turned out to be short-lived, however,
and ended
with the communist authorities' anti-Jewish campaign in
1968. Currently,
there are two Jewish cultural institutions that continue to
operate in
Poland: the State Jewish Theater and the Jewish Historical
Institute.
(G.Z./CM)
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